It’s a kitchen design question as old as time: Double sink or single sink, which is better? Some readers recently started commenting back and forth on the question, and it occurred to me that we’d never discussed and debated this topic in a story. (We did discuss the classic toilet paper over or under question, though!) Above: Illustration of American-Standard kitchen cabinets and sinks from a 1953 catalog.
Of course, each design has its pros and cons. [Above: Illustration from 1953 Crane kitchen catalog.]
Double sink pros and cons:
- Double sinks make it easier to wash on one side, stack to dry on the other.
- Or procrastinators can wash on one side, pile dirties on the other, and get to finishing up when you can. [I plead guilty, but you could guess that already, couldn’t you?]
- On the flip side, double sinks typically are smaller, so you sometimes cannot get a big pot or tray completely into one of the bowls. Jamming a large tray into one side of a double sink kinda runs the risk of scratching or dinging it.
- In the same vein, they can take up more room.
Single sink pros and con:
- Single sinks can be sized larger, so they can fit large pots and pans and trays. [My husband is in the single sink camp for this reason.]
- I guess you could say: They encourage you to clean as you go, because there is no second bowl to pile in the dirties.
- Overall, they likely take up less room, so there is more counter space for prep.
Melody says
I have a 2 bowl sink and one side is larger than the other (60/40). When I chose the sink, I took my largest casserole dish and roaster pan with me to test and see if they’d sit flat (ahem, *concealed*) in the bottom of the sink. Dishes sticking over the top of the sink edge drive me nuts.
Ethan says
Double.
Melinda says
I prefer the single. I have a dishwasher, so the majority gets washed i there and the leftover things are usually to big for wither dishwasher or a double bowl.
The kitchen sink also serves as the dogs bath tub, so there’s that.
Nancy says
Camp 2 bowl here. We have limited countertop real estate so I’m a clean as you go girl. Dishwasher is for dinnerware, hand washing is for all cookware. One bowl is for washing/rinsing, one bowl permanently houses the dish drainer. Having 1 bowl would entail a drainer on the countertop – which would curtail any other activity to take place on it. I’ve used single bowl sinks elsewhere and always smile when I can get back to my own. I can’t stand a dish drainer that often ends up being a permanent fixture & am skeeved by the drying grates/sanitation issues when trying to deal w/ food prep. My dream kitchen would have a large 2 bowl w/ attached drainboards on both sides + plenty of counter space. 🙂
BobinAlabama says
I’m with you, Nancy, for the same reasons. Two-bowl sinks rock!
Sharon says
I have a triple sink. 1980 construction. The thought was wash water on one side and rinse on the other, with the little middle sink to pour out that cold cup of coffe or whatever while washing dishes. Builder fortunately talked me into a dishwasher so it is frustrating to be unable to soak a 9 X 13 dish flat on yhe bottom. Miss the double sink and drainboards in the house I grew up in. It was on a metal cabinet unit with the rest of the kitchen wood cabinets. I have been looking at “workstation” sinks. Not retro and not many have drainboards, but the racks look like they would serve much the same purpose as drainboards. Bringing in large swiss chard leaves from the garden is very messy with my 3 little sink bowls.
Reader Deb says
There’s a company in New York, frigodesign.com that will incorporate an undermount stainless steel sink you buy and ship to them into a custom stainless steel countertop. I think they can add drainboards, no drip edges, etc. Don’t know how much they cost, but they offer free price quotes online.
Mary says
For those of you who wash dishes by hand, how do you do it with a single sink? Is there some clever technique I’m missing out on? I only know how to do it with a double sink, one side for soapy water and one side for rinsing. And a Rubbermaid dish drainer for drying/holding the clean dishes. If I had only a single sink, like my Mom did, I would need a separate dish pan for rinsing.
Janet in ME says
I’m with Mary. If you have no dishwasher, it is difficult to do dishes in a single sink. In my last house with a small kitchen, there was only room for a single sink but fortunately, the drain plug was out of round and leaked. So I could rinse in the same sink as I washed because I had to constantly replace the water in it anyhow. I loved my mother’s old stainless farmhouse sink with a drainboard. I love the looks of enamel sinks but I would be afraid of scratching it so I stick to a quality heavy stainless double sink.
Mary says
Yeah, that’s a whole ‘nother debate–stainless versus porcelain versus whatever. I thought I liked the look of a white sink, but we’ve had acrylic (?) sinks in the last two house we’ve been in, and I really don’t like dealing with the stains and even pitting with them. I have an almost Pavlovian reaction to seeing white sinks now–white sink = shudders. My mom had a porcelain/enamel sink which of course chips. Any future sinks will be stainless steel for me.
Amy L says
When we retro-redid our counters I switched to a single sink for the large pots & pans. When we hand wash dishes, I have a plastic tub to use as the “wash” sink, and rinse in the actual sink before putting on the drain rack.
Teri Mills says
You can use a dish pan. That’s what I did when I was cursed with a single basin sink. You just stick that in there to wash them and use the remaining area of the sink to run water to rinse them.
Penny says
I’m in the drainboard camp. I’d go for a double sink with a drainboard (on both sides would be fantastic), but I’d settle for a big single sink with a drainboard, again being delighted if the drain area was on both sides. I do have lots of big pots.
I’ve always wanted a separate small sink in the kitchen in addition so that people don’t have to run out the hot water that I’m in the middle of using, so that they can get cold water for whatever purpose they want it for.
sherree says
I prefer a large single sink with a drainboard. In the early years of my marriage we lived in an old house with a huge single sink with drainboards on each side and a high back to catch splashes. It was the best sink for bathing a baby and keeping the kitchen tidy.
Robbie Kendall says
My first choice with a kitchen sink is not whether there are one or two sinks; it would always be a sink with a drainboard. If there is room for a drainboard with two sinks (as long as at least one was deep) that would be preferable as there is more flexibility in the kitchen. If there were only enough room for one sink with a drainboard, so be it.
Reader Deb says
Don’t think they make them anymore, but the sink in the house I grew up in had a double enamel sink, one deep, with a removable drainboard that covered the deep one. Now I have a double sink, double drainboard, stainless steel. Scratches add to the patina instead of removing enamel :). No dirty dishes allowed in the sink with the garbage disposal. Especially silverware.
jani says
Deb, I have that sink now, double enamel, with the removable drainboard. It was in my 1905 home when I bought it 3 years ago. The problem I have with it,is that I never use the deep one with the drain board…I use the drainboard to dry dishes on -and the bowl underneath is always covered. I like that they’re deep, but what is the other sink for, if you have a drainboard on top of it? 🙂 thx, jani
Pam Kueber says
I think the removable drainboard is meant to hide dirty dishes underneath! There are a couple of these on ebay right now, like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Cast-Iron-White-Porcelain-Sink-Extension-Standard-Drainboard-Vtg-185-18P/202199313805?hash=item2f1404ad8d:g:K4kAAOSwPHxa372O:rk:16:pf:0
Reader Deb says
The only times I remember the drainboard being off the deep sink was when my Mom was soaking stains out of clothes or dyeing them. Not sure, but I think it might have been deep enough to use to drain a washer.
Lynda says
I like a single sink. I think double sinks were popular before dishwashers were used. I use Kohler sinks and stainless racks to fit the sinks so they do not scratch. I have a single bowl, cast iron farmhouse sink and an under mount stainless sink in my kitchen. However when I helped son-in-law and daughter upgrade their kitchen, they wanted the double sink so they could pile up dishes on one side and still have other side of sink available for use. We put in a drop-in Kohler double sink with a drainboard.